Canterbury Bankstown has almost 2,000 support workers, with many of them gathering at Revesby Workers’ Club for a rally calling for improved conditions to address workforce shortages and high staff turnover, including stamping out wage theft and adopting portable leave and training schemes.
The rally was attended by disability support workers, NDIS participants and community supporters from across South West Sydney, as well as representation from more than 10 local NDIS providers supporting the action.
Australian Services Union (ASU) NSW and ACT Secretary Angus McFarland said the NDIS had been operating for 10 years and while it had been life-changing for people with disabilities, more must be done to attract and retain a robust workforce to guarantee a sustainable system for decades to come.
“Workers are feeling undervalued by underpayments, under-training and underwhelming leave entitlements,” he said. “These problems are plaguing the sector, driving workers away from an industry that’s desperate for more staff and failing people with disabilities now and into the future.
“Demand for the NDIS is growing, yet the sector has one of the highest attrition rates in Australia with up to one quarter of workers leaving each year.”
The ASU said adequate, competitive wages were vital yet the union is actively investigating more than 30 providers over alleged wage theft and fraud in NSW alone.
“Wage theft in the disability support sector is rampant. It’s bad for workers and is ripping off people with disability at the same time,” Mr McFarland said.
“We are calling for a reformed system that enforces upfront requirements for providers to pass on the correct wages to workers.”
Mr McFarland said better leave entitlements and more training opportunities were also essential to attracting and retaining workers.
